All fads die overnight. Usually just when their perpetrators are lying in luxury, believing they can do no wrong.

Let’s see. Take a no-talent, otherwise known as J. Lo, pair her up with a never been, i.e. Randy Jackson, and mix in one certified rock star and lo and behold a dying franchise is propped up.

But too much of anything is too much for all.

Steven Tyler is one of the few rock stars I know who lives up to the legend. He’s funny, whip-smart and you can see him imploring you to do drugs all night. He’s got charisma in spades. But what does fifty years of rock history tell us? Overexposure kills an act. Eventually, you just see the little kid down the street playing dress-up. Which is why an ever younger generation finds new stars, to play out the game one more time.

"American Idol" hasn’t been about music in eons. It’s been about lowest common denominator drama. Remove that drama and you’ve got nothing. Now all there is are three blathering idiots loving everything. That’s a television show? Hell, that’s not even a YouTube clip!

If you never change the formula, you never last.

But it gets worse than that. Trumpeting the sales of last year’s winner, Scotty McCreery, is like boasting your kid sold the most Girl Scout cookies…who cares?

That’s the story of America. Most people don’t care. We’re down in our niches, only coming up for the train-wreck. And whatever train-wreck happened when Tyler and J. Lo joined "Idol" has dissipated.

Same problem with "X Factor". No one believes these shows will generate stars anymore. "The Voice" will fail someday, it’s just a matter of when. Once we get to see who these stars really are, we no longer care. Stardom still revolves around mystery. Not that you’ve got to be a star to be a successful musician, but all of mainstream music and television is built around stars! Who in their right mind would overexpose them! Isn’t this what killed Ozzy’s ticket sales and forced him to reunite with Sabbath? Hell, if you think Sharon wants to give some of HER money to those other has-beens, you’re sorely mistaken.

The mainstream media is last to the party. You couldn’t get anybody to say a negative word about "Idol" after last year’s numbers. It’s like saying ‘N Sync was gonna last because of the sales of "No Strings Attached". Everybody knew it was a fad. Can we stop hearing the refrain that television will save the music industry?